·The Bundesbank criticised the ECB’s bond-buying programme designed to save the euro, questioning whether it is really necessary and suggesting it represents a great risk to taxpayers. – FT

·Italy sold €8bn of six month treasury bills at a yield of 0.503%, down from 0.831% previously andthe lowest rate since the introduction of the euro. – Nick Fletcher, Guardian

·Pimco, the world’s biggest bond fund has been cutting its holdings of Italian and Spanish government debt after their recent rallies. – Grame Wearden, Guardian

·Enrico Letta has been handed the mandate to form Italy’s next government by president Giorgio Napolitano. – Grame Wearden, Guardian

·Enrico Letta told reporters in Rome on Wednesday that his top priority was to tackle the “enormous, unbearable” economic emergency in Italy, in a signal that his government could change the pace of austerity. – Grame Wearden, Guardian

·French unemployment rising by 1.2% to 3.225m, the 23rd monthly rise in a row worst level since records began in January 1996. – Grame Wearden, Guardian

·Spain‘s joblessness has reached fresh heights over the first three months of the year with a record 27% of the workforce unemployed. – Giles Tremlett, Guardian